Revolution Update: September 13

Saturday marks the 36th all-time meeting between two of the original MLS teams … Colorado leads the all-time, regular-season series between the two clubs, 17-11-7.

Saturday night’s match is the second of two regular-season games between the Revs and Rapids, and is the only meeting in Colorado … earlier this season, the Rapids earned a 2-1 win at Gillette Stadium on April 24, extending the Revs' winless streak against Colorado to four matches, and snapping a three-game streak of draws dating back to the 2008 season.

New England is just 3-11-3 all-time against Colorado on the road, but holds an 8-6-4 advantage at home.

The Revolution has not won the season series against Colorado since 2001, which was the first time the club won since the first two season series in 1996 and 1997 … the teams have drawn the series in six of the last eight years, with the Rapids winning the series in 2005 and 2008.

Since 2005, the Revs are only 2-5-4 against the Rapids and have not won outright since a 2-1 victory at home on Sept. 27, 2007 when Khano Smith tallied an 88th-minute goal to secure the 1-0 victory … before April's Rapids victory, the clubs played to a 1-1 draw in three consecutive matches.

The Revolution and Rapids have never met outside the MLS regular season.

PLAYER NOTES VS. COLORADO

The Revolution and Rapids completed one of the biggest offseason trades of the year, with the Revs receiving Cory Gibbs and Preston Burpo, and a third-round selection in the 2011 MLS SuperDraft and allocation money, in exchange for Jeff Larentowicz and Wells Thompson.

Nico Colaluca was also acquired from the Rapids, coming to the Revs in exchange for Rob Valentino, on May 6, 2009.

Taylor Twellman leads the Revs with nine career goals against the Rapids, while he’s also added three assists in 13 appearances.

Kenny Mansally has one goal and one assist against Colorado, notching the game-tying goal in the 1-1 draw at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on Sept. 20, 2008, to give the Revs their first point in Colorado since 2004.

Kheli Dube scored, heading in Mansally’s free kick, in the team’s last visit to Colorado – Oct. 3, 2009 – in a draw against the Rapids.

Against the Rapids earlier this season, Marko Perovic recorded his first career MLS goal, a 30-yard free kick to then level the score before the Rapids went on to win.

Matt Reis - who missed the earlier meeting this season while recovering from off-season shoulder and knee surgeries - has made 16 appearances against Colorado, recording a 1.12 goals against average, five shutouts and a 7-6-3 record.

NEWS AND NOTES

ROAD WARRIORS AND TIME TRAVELERS
The Revs are in the midst of a three-game road swing that is making them true road warriors … after last week’s stop in the LA area for Friday’s match against Chivas USA, the Revs will head out on a seven-day, two-game road trip to Commerce City, Colo. (Colorado Rapids) and Frisco, Texas (FC Dallas) … in a two-and-a-half week span, the Revs will spend time in all four continental U.S. time zones ... in total, the Revs will have traveled 9,150 miles in a 16-day span to complete the trips.

WEST COAST WOES RETURN …
In 2010, the Revs have posted a 3-7-2 overall record against teams in the Western Conference, including an 0-5-0 record on the road following Friday’s loss at Chivas USA … after starting the season 0-6-2 against the West, the Revs had earned three consecutive wins against Western teams (July 10 vs. LA, Aug. 14 vs. Houston and Sept. 4 vs. Seattle), however all three of those games were at home … with three of the team’s final four road matches in western markets, the club now has three more chances to gain its first road win against a Western Conference club this season.

… AND COLORADO IS A HARD PLACE TO SNAP STREAK
While the Revs are still looking for their first road win against the West – and their first road win overall since April 3 – Colorado is historically a tough place to try to attain that win … the Revs have earned just three wins in 17 matches in the Denver area, the last win coming on June 15, 2002, a streak of eight matches since the last road victory … in that span, New England has gone 0-5-3 in road matches against Colorado.

HISTORY REPEATING ITSELF, BUT BACKWARDS
In 2009, the Revs also traveled to Colorado and Dallas in a multi-game trip … however, last year’s trip was in reverse order of the 2010 journey … in 2009, the Revs started the two-game trip in Dallas on Wednesday, Sept. 30, dropping a 1-0 match at the Cotton Bowl ahead of the Mexico-Colombia match … the following day, the team traveled to Denver and regrouped to take a 1-1 draw to close the trip on Saturday, Oct. 3.

JOSEPH HITS THE 2-0-0 MARK
With his start in the midfield on Friday night, Shalrie Joseph made his 200th career start, all in a Revolution uniform … Joseph is just the second player in Revs history to reach the 200 starts mark, trailing club starts leader Jay Heaps (238 starts, 2001-09) … Joseph joined the Revs at the start of the 2003 season, and only four of his 204 career appearances have been as a substitute.

SCORING STREAK SNAPPED WITH SHUTOUT
After being shut out by a 2-0 score line on Friday by Chivas USA, the Revs saw their 13-game scoring streak in all competitions come to an end … the Revs’ streak began on July 10 with a 2-0 win against the LA Galaxy, and ran through eight MLS games and five SuperLiga matches.

PEROVIC SET TO RETURN
The team’s goal-scoring leader – Marko Perovic – is set to return to the lineup on Saturday at Colorado after sitting out Friday’s match against Chivas USA while serving a one-game caution accumulation suspension … Perovi?, who has six goals in 18 MLS games, scored his first career MLS tally against the Rapids on April 24 at Gillette Stadium … his free-kick goal was the first of three free kicks on the season, coming against the Rapids (April 24), against LA (July 10) and at Philadelphia (July 31).

NEW-LOOK STALWARTS
In years past, veteran players like Jay Heaps, Steve Ralston and Taylor Twellman dotted the top of the Revs’ stats for starts and appearances … with those players retiring, coaching and recovering, respectively, this season, a new set of names are at the top of the team’s appearance and starts charts … Pat Phelan (22 appearances, 25 yrs. old), Sainey Nyassi (22 appearances, 21 yrs. old.) and Chris Tierney (21 appearances, 24 yrs. old) are the team’s new stalwarts, and all 25 years old or younger.

REFRESHING IDEA
The Revolution is competing against the 15 other MLS teams for a $50,000 Pepsi Refresh Project grant ... the Revs’ project idea is to provide free CPR and AED training to 500 youth soccer coaches throughout New England ... every year, 1 in 100,000 children participating in sports suffers a cardiac-related accident on the field or in the arena ... the Revs want to make our region’s youth soccer fields safer for our communities and families ... fans can vote for the Revs’ Pepsi Refresh idea up to 25 times every 24 hours at www.mlssoccer.com/pepsirefresh ... the contest ends on Sept. 20.

COMMUNITY HEROES NEEDED
MLS W.O.R.K.S., Major League Soccer’s community outreach initiative, and The Home Depot, the official home improvement retailer of MLS, have teamed to launch the Community MVP contest ... recognizing the impact a single individual can make, the contest aims to highlight the dedication and passion of MLS fans to make a difference in their local communities ... through Friday, Sept. 17, fans throughout the League can nominate individuals who are committed to going above and beyond in their communities ... winners will be selected in all 16 MLS markets based on their efforts in one of the following areas: general community service; youth programming; environmental sustainability; health and wellness; education; military or civic service ... each of the 16 winners will be recognized in an off-field ceremony his/her own club’s end-of-season game, and will win an trip to MLS Cup 2010 in Toronto on Nov. 21, where all 16 winners will be recognized ... nominations can be submitted at www.mlssoccer.com/communitymvp.